Friday, February 17, 2012

We Are The 87%

There's plenty of stuff on the blogs and the news about the new evaluation deal, so I won't add my $.02 to the discussion just yet. I will say that I can spot only one clear winner here--UFT chapter leaders.

According to the agreement, the union can intervene on behalf of 13% of teachers who are rated ineffective if they believe the rating is due to principal harassment. That means whenever a CL, a delegate, or someone vocal in the union gets a poor rating, the UFT will almost certainly claim principal harassment and get that person cleared.

But what about the rest of us--the 87% that won't get such protection?

Well, you're just out of luck. We are the 87%.

To my mind, anyone who gets a rating of ineffective unfairly is, by definition, a victim of principal harassment. When an admin targets a senior teacher because of salary concerns, or a younger teacher because he or she didn't spit shine the principal's car to enough of a mirror finish, that is harassment. But we won't be protected. That honor will be saved for your union rep. Unless, of course, said rep is not a member of the Unity caucus run by the current UFT leadership.

We should never have agreed to a deal unless ALL teachers are protected from principal harassment. Instead, we've guaranteed that CLs are safe. Personally, I want my CL to feel the same pressure as I do so he'll fight for me just like he would for himself. Now that his job is secure due to this agreement, I'm not sure that will happen.

So if you want to make teaching a career, you'd better run for Chapter Leader, and make sure you run on the Unity slate. Otherwise, you're just a sitting duck like the rest of us.

1 comment:

Michael Fiorillo said...

Perhaps better to say, "Run for Chapter Leader and join Unity Caucus."